By: Fern Sidman

President Donald J. Trump has privately approved detailed military plans for a U.S. strike on Iran, but is withholding a final go-ahead in the hopes that Tehran will back down from its nuclear ambitions, according to three senior officials familiar with the ongoing deliberations. As The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, Trump’s calculated delay reflects both a tactical maneuver to pressure Iran and a political gamble to avoid an all-out regional war—at least for now.

The decision was conveyed during a high-level meeting Tuesday night in the White House Situation Room, where Trump gave preliminary approval for specific military operations, according to individuals briefed on the classified discussions. However, the president emphasized that he alone would make the ultimate decision “one second before it’s due,” leaving top military brass in a posture of readiness but uncertainty.

“I have ideas on what to do,” Trump said cryptically to reporters on Wednesday, “but I haven’t made a final decision. The next week is going to be very big—maybe less than a week.”

The deliberations unfold as Israel’s Operation Rising Lion entered its sixth day, with more than 1,100 Iranian targets hit, including eight attack helicopters and dozens of missile infrastructure sites, according to the report in The Wall Street Journal. While the U.S. has refrained from direct strikes thus far, it has provided extensive intelligence and logistical support to Israeli forces.

Pentagon officials confirmed that the U.S. military’s role remains focused on missile defense coordination, particularly in the face of Iran’s retaliatory drone and ballistic attacks. Still, the groundwork for escalation is being laid. As The Wall Street Journal report detailed, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine participated in a secure White House briefing Wednesday afternoon, following their testimonies on Capitol Hill earlier in the day.

Though officials declined to provide operational details, defense analysts say that active planning for a strike on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility is progressing swiftly. The Fordow site, buried deep within a mountain and long considered impervious to conventional airpower, is believed to house Iran’s most advanced uranium enrichment capabilities. The facility has not yet been targeted by Israel, leading many experts to conclude that only the U.S. Air Force’s bunker-busting munitions—such as the 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator—could neutralize it.

According to the information provided in The Wall Street Journal report, the Pentagon is ramping up its force posture across both Europe and the Middle East. Assets now deployed or en route include aerial refueling tankers to enable long-range strike operations, warships with advanced missile defense systems, capable of intercepting Iranian ballistic missiles, an aircraft carrier strike group repositioned for rapid response and a squadron of F-22 Raptors, which arrived at a base in the United Kingdom on Wednesday to provide superior air-to-air capabilities.

Defense Secretary Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee that U.S. forces were operating under “maximum force protection conditions” and that contingency planning was ongoing to counter expected drone and rocket threats if hostilities with Tehran escalate.

Asked if military action was imminent, Hegseth deferred, noting such a decision rests solely with the president. “I can’t speak to that in a public forum,” he told lawmakers, according to The Wall Street Journal report, adding, “We are ensuring everything at our disposal is available to deal with any contingency.”

In Tehran, the message from Trump has been met not with capitulation, but with fiery rhetoric. Iran’s U.N. Mission issued a rare, direct statement dismissing the possibility of negotiations under threat. “Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance,” the statement read, a clear reference to Trump.

Iran’s hardline Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has reportedly relocated from Tehran to a secure location following Israeli strikes that forced thousands to flee the Iranian capital. As The Wall Street Journal report noted, two Iranian government planes were tracked leaving the country’s airspace for Oman, fueling speculation that emergency diplomacy or even regime evacuation may be underway.

Russia, a longtime ally of Tehran, has issued a stern warning to the United States. In a phone call with Omani officials, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned the Israeli airstrikes and urged the U.S. to avoid military action. According to the Russian foreign ministry, the two parties agreed that hostilities should cease “as soon as possible,” and emphasized the need for de-escalation.

Moscow’s involvement further complicates Washington’s calculus, particularly as President Trump faces growing pressure from both hawkish Republican lawmakers and anti-interventionist factions within his base.

Privately, sources close to Trump told The Wall Street Journal that he remains torn between his desire for a legacy-defining foreign policy victory and his instinct to avoid a prolonged Middle East war. While he has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, some advisers have reportedly urged him to keep diplomatic channels open, even amid escalating violence.

“He thinks if he pushes just a little harder, Tehran will break,” said one official familiar with the president’s mindset. “But he also knows that if he miscalculates, this could spiral fast.”

With U.S. military assets now in position, Iran refusing to yield, and Israel maintaining unrelenting pressure on Iranian infrastructure, the situation remains poised on a knife’s edge.

As The Wall Street Journal report indicated in its latest national security dispatch, “Trump’s hesitancy is not a sign of indecision, but of strategy—one that is drawing the region, and the world, closer to a potentially historic confrontation.” Whether that confrontation materializes in the coming days—or is narrowly averted—may well depend on whether Tehran bends or Washington blinks first.